Method of treating beer or ale.



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'II'EO WALLERSTEIN, OF NEW YORK, 1\T.

"METHOD OF TREATING BEER 0R ALE.

ceases.

filed April 8, 1911.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known-that .I, LEO lVALLEnsTEIN, a

v subject of the Emperorof Germany, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements .in Methods of Treating Beer. or vAle, of which the following is a specification.

-This invention relates to the preparation ofbeers and ale's,'and more particularly to the preparation of improved bottled beers, the object of the invention being the production. of bottled beers which possess great stability and which do not become turbid or clouded even when placed on ice for considerable periods. The terms beer and ale are herein used in their usual acceptation as indicating lager beers and vbrilliant ales, as distinguished from medicinal preparations, such as malt extracts.

Most bottled beers, when correctly brewed and stored at low temperatures, will remain clear and brilliant for some time if placed upon ice directly after bottling. The same beers however, after pasteurization, are far less resistantto cold and usually cloud or become turbid when placed on ice. This sensitiveness to cold becomes more pronounc'ed after the beers have been bottledsubsequent to thecooling of the wort, and "usually after, the conclusion of the main fermentation,.a proportion of proteolytic enzyms active'in slightly acid media sufiicient to modify the proteids contained in the beer in such manner that they will not be precipitated uponchilling subsequent to pasteur'lzation, the beer being rendered chill proof in the sense, that it is capable of remaining brilliant even when kept upon ice for a considerable time. In practice it has been found advantageous-in most cases to add the enzyms tothe clarified beershortly Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 20, 1911, No Drawing. ,Original application filed April 11', 1910, Serial No. 554,645.

Divided and this application Serial No. 619,676. d

before bottling. During the pasteurization which follows the bottling, the enzyms become active, and those proteids which would cloud the beer when chilled are so modified by the proteolysis that the resulting beer will remain clear and brilliant, being no longer sensitive to cold. Beers andales, treated in accordance with this invention have been found to be substantially unaffected by exposure to diffused daylight-for days or even weeks, and comparatively little aitected evenby the directrays of the sun, whereas untreated beers, as is. well known, rapidly acquire a highly disagreeable odor and flavor when exposed to sunlight, and quickly lose their brilliance, often depositing a sediment, under the action of diiiused day- .light. I have also found that if the proteolytic enzyms be added in sufficient quantity, and if excessive temperatures are not used during pasteurization, the enzyms remain active after pasteurization. By their activity subsequent to pasteurization they exert a further beneficial influence, inasmuch as they are. found to have a peptonizing efl ect upon the proteids while the bottled beer is storedat ordinary temperatures. This fact is of particular advantage in the case of beers which are to be shipped long distances or-stored in bottles for long periods, or which are required to undergo climatic changes; for such treatment as is well known increases greatly thesensitiveness of bottled beers with respect to cold and even produces a sediment in the bottles. The above described peptonization occurring at ordinary temperatures in the bottles is found however to impart to the beer the capability of enduring long storage, transportation or climatic change without becoming sensitive to cold. v It'is not practicable to specify-all proteolytic enzyms which are suited for use in are readily prepared in concentrated form by known methods, and their preparations have in several instances become standard articles 9f commerce.- Such' preparations are not however pure in the sense of consisting solely ofenzyms or of asingle. enzym and all proteolytic enzy'm's are in practice recognized only by their effects upon proteid matter. The source from which proteolytic enzyms are derived is not material or important, provided the preparation is free from constituents injurious to the beer and -the enzyms are capable of exerting the ance with the followin proper modifying action upon theproteids' portion or quantity can be specified only in particular cases, being however readily determlned by simple test for each case.

Enzyme which are suited for use in ac cordance with this invention may be prepared from malt by known methods; (com-.

pare for. example Fernbach and Hubert, Oompt. Bend. ale ZAcad. des Sciences, 1900, 130, 1783; 131, 293; Windisch and Schellhorn, Wochensck. Brain, 1900, 17, 334; and

Weiss, Oompt. Read. Tmo. Lab01'at.UarZsberg, 1903, 5, 135). I have also been able to prepare an enzym capable of producing the aboveidescribed effects upon beer. in accordmethod: Green malt which has been permltted to grow fora period of one to two weeks according to conditions, is finely ground, preferably -with the addition of quartz sand. The ground product is saturated with a solution con-' taining 0.1 to 0.3 per cent. of hydrochloric acid and ispermitted to stand at room-temperatures for twelve to twenty-four hours. The acid liquid is then expressed under heavy pressure, and is mixed with several volumes of strong alcohol; The resulting precipitate contains the enzym, and is.

quickly separated from the liquid and-dried in cacao at temperatures not exceeding 40 C. It should be .clearly understood .that these enzyms are extremely sensitive to physical and chemical conditions, and may be rendered inactive by factors the presence of which it is often difficult or impossible to recognize. Hence it may. occur that preparations' made under seemingly identical conditions may differ widely in their activity or in their suitability for the purposes of this invention. Hence the preparationsshould in all cases be testedas to their effects upon beer before using them.

Besides the peptase prepared from malt, preparations. containing proteolytic enzyms from other sources are well adapted for use, provided only they are active in slightly acid media and are free from substances injurious to the beer. Thus I may mention by way of example papain, derived from papaw, bromelin, from the fruit of the pineapple (see Biochemz'e der lfflcmgen, Czapek', Jena, 1905, Volume II, p. 167), andpepsi-n, from the gastric secretions of mammals. Those commercial preparations of "papain and pepsin which exhibit a comparatively -high degree of activity, say in excess of 1 3000 (that is to say which are capable under the standard conditionsrecited in the U. iSaPharmacopwia of digesting at least 3000 times their weight of freshly coagulated eg -albumen) have been found to be suitable for the purposes of this invention. It should be understood that 'zymogens convertible into proteolytic enzyms may serve as additions to the beer, giving rise therein to the respective enzyms. With reference to pepsin, it is commonly stated that this enzym is rapidly destroyed by warming to .55-57 C. I have found however that under the conditions obtaining during pasteurization of beer at temperatures of 5760 C.,'the pepsin exhibits activity both during and after pasteurization.

.The proportion of the enzym to be added depends primarily upon the activity of the preparation, and secondarily upon the percentage of coagulable albuminoids in the beer. As a general rule, an enzym exhibiting an activity of 1: 6000, may be employedin the proportion of one to five grams per barrel of thirty-one gallons of beer or ale, the proportion being increased or diminished according as the activity of the preparation may vary from the above'standard, and according to the percentage of coagulable albuminoids contained in the beer; As

above stated, the enzym is preferably added to the filtered or otherwise clarified beer shortly before bottling, but the addition may be made if desired at. any other suitable stage of the process, as for example during storage. The addition of the enzym preparations in excessive proportions may render the beer again sensitive to cold.

It is a distinguishing characteristic .of I beers and ales prepared in accordancewith.

this invention and containing active proteolytic enzyms, that they are not only them! selves far less sensitive to cold than most pasteurized beers, but they are capable .of imparting this quality under proper conditions to beers which are sensitive to cold from the presence therein of proteid matter. For example, if a beer containing proteolytic enzyms be mixed with an equal or lesser volume ofa beer which becomes turbid from the separation of proteids when placed on ice, and the mixture kept for a suitable period ata temperature favorable to'proteolysis, this mixture will be found thereafter to have acquired the propertyof remaining clear when'subsequently chilled. This procedure constitutes, in the absence of interfering substances, as for example salts out tin or other heavy metals; a highly sensitive test for. the presence of these enzyms in "a, state of activity. A highlysensitive test for the presence of pepsin a state of activity in beer or'ale is by digesting or proteolyzing the hydrochloric acid solution of the proteid known as edestin; or in general the enzyme in a state of activityvcan be detected by their proteolyt-ic effects upon various albuminous substances or prote'ids, it being preferable to select for the detection of each enzym such proteids as are proven to be highly sensitive to its effects, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The above tests "are also applicable to the detection of proteolytic enzyme in various media other than beer or ale, as for example in plant or animal secretions or in preparations made therefrom. a

I do not herein claim broadly the prepara tion of stable beers and ales by the addition thereto of proteolytic enzyms, or the beeror ales so treated, the said subject-matter, as well as the addition of such enzymatic preparations as may bederived from malt, being claimed in my copending application, Serial Number 554,645, filed April 11, 1910, whereofthe present application is a division; nor

do I claim herein the treatment of beer or ale witha proteolytic enzym derived from the gastric secretions of mammals, said subject-matter being claimed in an application in presence of two witnesses.

" LEO WALLERSTEI NI Witnesses: V

Tnos. GREEN, 7

' O. C. Antonyms,-

brewing, the step which 

